Yasmin Dawood

Yasmin Dawood is Professor of Law and Canada Research Chair in Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Electoral Law at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Political Science. She is also an Associate of Trinity College at the University of Toronto and serves on several editorial boards including the University of Toronto Law Journal and Global Constitutionalism.

Professor Dawood's research focuses on election law, comparative constitutional law, and democratic theory. Her scholarship addresses improving electoral fairness and democratic governance through topics such as the right to vote, campaign finance, free speech, social media and disinformation, redistricting, electoral reform, constitutional design, political dysfunction, partisanship, and corruption. She has co-edited significant works including Constitutionalism and a Right to Effective Government? (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and a special issue of the Election Law Journal on foreign election interference.

Her recent publications reveal a clear trend toward addressing contemporary democratic challenges, particularly those related to disinformation, foreign election interference, and the fragility of constitutional democracies. Her work bridges theoretical democratic principles with practical electoral challenges, showing increasing attention to cybersecurity threats to elections and innovative approaches to protecting democratic integrity in the digital age.

• Mewett Award for Teaching Excellence (2020)
• Truth and Reconciliation Teaching Award (2023)
• Legal Excellence Award, South Asian Bar Association (2020)
• Member of the Royal Society of Canada, College (2018)
• Canada Research Chair Tier II
• SSHRC Insight Grant (2021-2026)

Professor Dawood has testified as an election law expert before Parliamentary committees examining electoral reform and has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Connaught Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. She regularly presents her work at national and international conferences and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law. Her expertise is frequently sought by major media outlets including The New York Times, CBC, The Globe and Mail, and The Toronto Star.

As an active member of the academic community, Professor Dawood serves on editorial boards and advisory committees including the International Board of Advisors of the Federal Law Review and the Editorial Board of Global Constitutionalism. Her work bridges legal scholarship with practical policy applications, particularly in the areas of election security and democratic resilience.